CHRISTIAN CHURCHES WRESTLE WITH GOVERNMENT

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 ALGIERS 000420

SIPDIS

ZFR ALGIERS 000420 MSG WILL BE RESENT WITH NEW MRN

SIPDIS

STATE ALSO FOR DRL/IRF WARREN COFSKY

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/02/2018
TAGS: PGOV PHUM KIRF CASC AG
SUBJECT: CHRISTIAN CHURCHES WRESTLE WITH GOVERNMENT

REF: A. ALGIERS 333

B. ALGIERS 334

C. 06 ALGIERS 606

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Classified By: Ambassador Robert S. Ford; reasons 1.4(b) and (d)


1. (C) SUMMARY: Using a 2006 law, the Algerian government
closed some Protestant churches in March amidst constant
reporting by Algerian Arabic-language papers that was
intensely hostile towards the Christian community in general
and towards alleged Protestant proselytizing in particular.
Our contacts in the Algerian Society for Christian Books and
the Protestant Church of Algiers confirmed that about a dozen
churches were closed, at least temporarily, in the mountains
east of Algiers (Kabylie region). There are reports that
some priests have been summoned into police stations to
explain why they were holding unauthorized services. Our
contacts in the Protestant community tell us that some
evangelical Protestants in the Kabylie region may be
deliberately flouting Algerian law by not attempting to
register their activities as required in the 2006 law, and
then claiming religious persecution. However, even those
Christians who wish to play by the rules tell us that
government and local authorities have left registration
procedures deliberately vague so as to constitute an obstacle
to religious freedom. Adding to the sense of concern among
the Christian community, long-time Algeria resident and now
retired Methodist minister Hugh Johnson had to depart Algeria
(ref B) when his residence permit was cancelled. We have
repeatedly warned the MFA of the danger of actual and
perceived government restrictions on religious freedom (ref
A) and its incitement of the media towards these ends.
Finally, recent difficulties have not been limited to
Christians alone, as the representative of the Jewish
community in Algeria reported that he has recently received
death threats. Ambassador on April 12 cautioned a member of
(Islamist) Prime Minister Belkhadem's kitchen cabinet that
closing churches would quickly become a sensitive bilateral
issue if the GoA was not forthcoming in approving
applications from churches for authorizations and easing
restrictions on visas. This Belkhedam advisor warned the
Ambassador that the church issue was highly sensitive on the
Algerian side because of Algerian fears that Western
countries would use Christian communities as a wedge to gain
more influence in Algeria. In the last two weeks, the local
media clamor over evangelization has abated significantly, at
least temporarily, but the problem of new churches being able
to operate here is by no means finished. END SUMMARY.

WHERE TWO OR THREE ARE GATHERED IN MY NAME
--------------


2. (C) In an April 8 meeting, Ali Khedri of the Algerian
Society for Christian Books (ASCB) confirmed press reports
that some churches have been informed in writing that they
had to close. At the time of our conversation, Khedri said
that sixteen churches in Algeria had been closed by the
Algerian government and noted that the order to close was
effective immediately. This information, he said, was
provided to him by Mustapha Krim, the president of the
Protestant Church of Algeria (PCA).


3. (C) Some affected churches closed their doors for only one
or two weeks, Khedri continued. Khedri acknowledged that the
act of reopening a closed church without authorization can be
interpreted by the government as illegal and posited that a
court order compelling church closures may come. The March
31 edition of the online French-language newspaper Tout sur
l'Algerie quoted Mustapha Krim saying that "all of the
communities in the Protestant Church of Algeria" had decided
to reopen. Khedri told us that since reopening the churches
have held services but that, in some cases, church leaders
have been taken to police stations repeatedly and
subsequently asked to give police statements (proces-verbal).
Roger Correvon, pastor of the Protestant Church of Algiers,
confirmed April 13 that in Tizi Ouzou a declared PCA member
church had been closed recently by the authorities. Church
members eventually reopened the church and the leadership of
the church was taken to the police station and told to stop
activities.

RENDER UNTO CAESAR

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4. (C) Speaking historically in an April 13 conversation,
Roger Correvon told us that between 1963 and 2006 the
Algerian government recognized one single association -- the
Protestant Church of Algeria -- as the national
representative of the various Protestant denominations in the
country. According to Correvon, during this time period PCA
membership alone was sufficient for an individual church to
be considered legally recognized. Ordinance 06-03, which
came in February 2006 (ref C),began to require individual
churches to register at the level of the wilaya (province).
According to Correvon, the change was not communicated in
writing. Prior to the change, he said, a number of
independent Protestant churches existed openly. With the
passage of Ordinance 06-03, several of them sought to join
the PCA out of fear.


5. (C) Khedri told us that the churches that have been
ordered closed recently are legally part of the PCA, per the
organization's bylaws. This fact, he asserted, means that
the closed churches were not operating illegally or secretly.
He also said that each time a church joins the PCA the
organization notifies the Algerian government, but he added
that the PCA has never received formal acknowledgment from
the government that new churches have been registered. Every
two years the PCA holds an "extraordinary general assembly"
during which new members (churches) are considered and added.
According to Khedri, the list of churches seeking to join
the PCA is long and the next assembly is slated for later
this month.


6. (C) Since the adoption of Ordinance 06-03 in 2006,
Correvon said, some churches have tried to register in their
wilayas but have been unsuccessful. He asserted that to date
no church registration attempt has been accepted at the
wilaya level. According to Correvon, there is no set list of
what is required for a church to be registered under
Ordinance 06-03. Rather, each time a church tries to
register, its representatives are told that their file is
incomplete or that they have incorrectly completed their
paperwork. Khedri also told us that officials from one
church in the city of Ouadhia had tried to register 10 times
with the wali (governor),but were told by the wali that
"instructions came from above" concerning the closures and
that he "did not know how to handle registering" them.
Correvon's Protestant Church of Algiers is preparing a file
to present to the wilaya of Algiers, but he noted that there
is no consensus with the PCA about how to handle the current
situation. Some members want to try to register while others
believe they are already in compliance with the law.

CONVERSION SENSITIVITY
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7. (C) Much of the Algerian media's attention has focused on
the alleged increasing number of Muslims converting to
Christianity, particularly in the Kabylie region. Khedri
said that some individuals have converted from Islam to
Christianity, but he was clear in saying that the number was
not high, as suggested by newspapers. Khedri also said that
the Algerian government was focusing on evangelical churches
because they were populated by Algerians, not foreigners. He
dismissed claims that foreign involvement with Algerian
evangelicals was high. Through our local employees we
contacted an imam in the Tizi Ouzou region who confirmed that
conversions in his area had taken place, but he was unable to
provide numbers.

PROBLEMS FOR OTHER MEN OF THE CLOTH
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8. (C) In addition to the church closings, we are also
monitoring the case of Catholic priest Pierre Wallez.
According to press reports, in January Father Wallez and an
Algerian doctor were detained for having prayed with
Christian African immigrants near the town of Maghnia, in
western Algeria. The press asserted that the activity was in
violation of Algerian law. The doctor was charged with
providing hospital drugs to the immigrants. Father Wallez
was given a one-month suspended sentence and released. The
next phase of his legal proceedings is scheduled for April

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19. Separately, our contacts have told us that an American
businessman is preaching at a secret church in Algiers.


9. (C) Catholic Bishop Tessier told Ambassador March 24 that
Protestant Minister Hugh Johnson had departed Algeria that
day after his appeal to remain in Algeria was rejected by the
country's Council of State. (We have asked Rachid Kerrar,
identified in the articles as Johnson's lawyer, for a
meeting, but he has not responded to our request.) Roger
Correvon confirmed on March 29 that Johnson had departed for
Marseille, France, where he was seeking medical attention.


10. (C) Following Johnson's departure, several newspapers
quoted Religious Affairs Minister Bouabdellah Ghoulamallah on
March 31 as saying that Johnson had been ordered to leave
Algeria for reasons linked to the "security of the state."
Ghoulamallah's remarks reflected a shift from his statement a
month earlier that Johnson was being expelled simply because
the permitted length of his stay in Algeria had come to an
end. In spite of this apparent hardening of Ghoulamallah's
position, according to the press he has maintained
consistently that the Ministry of Interior, rather than
Religious Affairs, took the decision to expel Johnson.
Ghoulamallah has also consistently ruled out Johnson's
involvement in any evangelical activities, saying he had not
participated in any such campaign. The Ministry of Interior
source told the Arabic-language daily Djazair News at the end
of March that Johnson was refused a new residence permit
because he was retired and hence had no job-related reason to
be allowed to stay in Algeria.

ALGERIAN GOVERNMENT RESPONSE: EQUAL TREATMENT
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11. (U) The main GoA response we hear both in public and
private is that the GoA is also regulating mosque activities,
although under a law that predates the 2006 law for
non-Muslim worship. A March 24 report in el-Khabr referred
to a Ministry of Interior report that 70 mosques in the
Kabylie were closed or abandoned either because of lack of
Muslim worshippers or lack of government authorizations.
According to el-Khabr, the Interior Ministry report also
warned that proselytizing was a threat to Algerian social
cohesion and recommended closely monitoring priests coming to
Algeria on the pretext of cultural programs. Ambassador on
April 12 cautioned a member of (Islamist) Prime Minister
Belkhadem's kitchen cabinet that closing churches would
quickly become a sensitive bilateral issue if the GoA was not
forthcoming in approving applications from churches for
authorizations and easing restrictions on visas. This
advisor warned the Ambassador that the church issue was
highly sensitive on the Algerian side because of Algerian
fears that Western countries would use Christian communities
as a wedge to insert more influence in Algeria. She even
claimed that one of the motivations behind the attack on the
American embassy in the Algerian media in March stemmed from
the suspicions Belkhadem and others in the Algerian
government harbored after the embassy began raising church
freedoms in its February conversations. (Comment: this
remark about the media campaign surprised us as no other
source has claimed this.)

P.S. JEWS HAVE PROBLEMS, TOO
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12. (C) Fredrick Belaiche (protect),the representative of
the Jewish community in Algeria, told us on April 12 that he
had recently received two death threats, one by phone and one
by letter. Both threats were anonymous and were received at
his office. According to Belaiche, the threats mentioned his
Jewish identity. Belaiche told us that he contacted the
police after receiving the phone call, but no action was
taken by them. With the arrival of the anonymous letter this
past week, however, the police responded and have placed his
office under surveillance. Belaiche said they will also
monitor phone calls to his office. According to Belaiche,
the police said that the responsible parties are unlikely to
be terrorists because the typical terrorist does not announce
his intentions in advance. In any case, Belaiche said, his
house has been under police surveillance for a long time.

COMMENT: CONNECTING THE DOTS

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13. (C) The Algerian government and media are sensitive to
Western criticism that the GoA is harassing or persecuting
Christians. Notably, best-selling Arabic-language paper
el-Khabr reported on April 13 that Algeria's image was
suffering from criticism in European papers such as el Pais
of the Algerian moves to close churches. In the wake of
Algeria's bitter colonial experience, there is genuine
paranoia here about Western influence coming into Algeria
through churches; we hear it occasionally in public forums we
attend. Belkhadem recognizes how much of a political winner
this church issue is for him among the conservative majority
in Algerian society, and he his government leakers to the
Algerian press, our contacts tell us, aim to use the church
issue to distract popular attention from the socioeconomic
ills of daily life. It may also serve to distract the
attention of the political opposition to efforts to secure a
third term for President Bouteflika. Much of the action is
taking place around Tizi Ouzou, a region whose people
historically are fiercely independent. We have asked for
meetings with the Religious Affairs ministry several times
between September 2007 and April 2008 to urge the government
apply the 2006 law fairly but noticeably they are declining
to see us.
FORD